diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
index a963f0c..f40309f 100644
--- a/action.yml
+++ b/action.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,11 @@ inputs:
     required: false
   bufArgs:
     description: The arguments to pass to buf
-    default: generate
+    default: check lint
+    required: false
+  protocPlugins:
+    description: The protoc language plugins to install, space separated. See README for supported plugins.
+    default: ""
     required: false
 
 runs:
@@ -19,7 +23,10 @@ runs:
     - name: Maybe install and definitely invoke buf
       shell: bash
       run: |
-        source ${{ github.action_path }}/scripts/install-buf.sh ${{ inputs.bufVersion }}
+        REPO_DIR="$(pwd)"
+        cd ${{ github.action_path }}
+        source scripts/install-buf.sh ${{ inputs.bufVersion }} ${{ inputs.protocPlugins }}
+        cd $REPO_DIR
         buf ${{ inputs.bufArgs }}
 
 branding:
diff --git a/scripts/executor-info.sh b/scripts/executor-info.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..05ffe59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/executor-info.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+UNAME_OS=$(uname -s)
+UNAME_ARCH=$(uname -m)
+
+NORMALIZED_OS=$UNAME_OS
+if [ "$NORMALIZED_OS" = "Linux" ]; then
+  NORMALIZED_OS="linux"
+fi
+
+NORMALIZED_ARCH=$UNAME_ARCH
+if [ "$NORMALIZED_ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then
+  NORMALIZED_ARCH="amd64"
+fi
+
+export UNAME_OS
+export UNAME_ARCH
+export NORMALIZED_OS
+export NORMALIZED_ARCH
diff --git a/scripts/install-buf.sh b/scripts/install-buf.sh
index aa9a8d4..10143bf 100755
--- a/scripts/install-buf.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-buf.sh
@@ -1,11 +1,22 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-UNAME_OS=$(uname -s)
-UNAME_ARCH=$(uname -m)
+source scripts/executor-info.sh
 
 BUF_VERSION=$1
 
+IFS=" " read -r -a PROTOC_PLUGINS <<< "$2"
+for part in "${PROTOC_PLUGINS[@]}"; do
+  IFS="@" read -r -a langAndVersion <<< "$part"
+
+  if [ "${#langAndVersion[@]}" != 2 ]; then
+    echo "Malformed plugin specifier \"$part\", expected e.g. go@v1.25.0"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  bash "scripts/install-${langAndVersion[0]}-plugin.sh" "${langAndVersion[1]}"
+done
+
 if [ ! -f ".bin/buf" ]; then
   echo "Installing buf $BUF_VERSION for OS $UNAME_OS Arch $UNAME_ARCH"
   mkdir -p .bin
diff --git a/scripts/install-go-plugin.sh b/scripts/install-go-plugin.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3d2f08b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/install-go-plugin.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+source scripts/executor-info.sh
+
+GO_PROTOC_VERSION=$1
+
+if [ ! -f ".bin/protoc-gen-go" ] || .bin/protoc-gen-go --version | grep -q "$GO_PROTOC_VERSION"; then
+  echo "Installing protobuf-gen-go $GO_PROTOC_VERSION for OS $UNAME_OS Arch $UNAME_ARCH"
+  mkdir -p .bin
+  curl --fail -sSL "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf-go/releases/download/$GO_PROTOC_VERSION/protoc-gen-go.$GO_PROTOC_VERSION.$NORMALIZED_OS.$NORMALIZED_ARCH.tar.gz" -o .bin/protoc-gen-go.tar.gz
+  tar -xf .bin/protoc-gen-go.tar.gz -C .bin
+  chmod +x .bin/protoc-gen-go
+fi